NEW! Arrendondo v. Tri-Modal Distribution Services Inc., SCIF, ADJ2440992, (05/12/2015): A failure by the state's independent medical reviewer to comply with the statutory deadlines for issuing decisions doesn't render the untimely decision invalid, according to a divided Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.

NEW! Lozano v. WCAB (SCIF), B258000, (05/13/2015): The California 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that a 2009 amendment to the Labor Code expanding the scope of the presumption of industrial causation for firefighters can apply retroactively to a firefighter who died of stomach cancer a year before the statute became effective.

NEW! Kimco Staffing Services v. State of California, B257258, (05/08/2015): The Labor Code's prohibition on allowing temporary services employers and leasing employers to self-insure their workers' compensation liabilities passes constitutional muster, the California 2nd District Court of Appeals ruled.

NEW! Jensen v. Krauss, F067851, (05/05/2015): A California appellate court ruled that a clerical worker for a dentist's office who received free dental care as a benefit of her employment was limited to a recovery through the workers' compensation system for her nerve injury from a treatment by her employer.

NEW! People v. Gracy, B258530, (04/30/2015): A California appellate court upheld an award of restitution to an injured prison worker for the overtime pay he lost as a result of his injuries from an assault by an inmate.

NEW! Speer v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 581-2, (04/16/2015): Lump-sum payments an injured Los Angeles Police Department detective received upon his retirement for unused vacation and accrued sick leave do not constitute payments for a personal injury or illness in lieu of workers' compensation. Accordingly, these payments could not be excluded from the calculation of his gross income for tax purposes, the United States Tax Court ruled.

NEW! Cockrell v. Farmer's Insurance, Nos. ADJ504565, ADJ2584271,The Workers' Compensation Appeals Board has for the second time rescinded an award ordering a workers' compensation insurance carrier to reimburse an injured worker for his self-procured medical marijuana.

NEW! In re Ronald F., No. A141990, (03/25/2015): A minor whose conduct while committed to a youth rehabilitation facility resulted in injury to a county employee was properly ordered to pay restitution to the county to cover the cost of the employee's workers' compensation claim.

NEW! Myres v. San Francisco Housing Authority, No. A140332, (03/23/2015): A California appellate court ruled that a municipal employee failed to establish her claim that she had been wrongfully terminated in retaliation for taking leave for an on-the-job injury, but substantial evidence supported the jury's finding that she had been subjected to a hostile work environment.

Sardell v. Bresler, B252589, (02/25/2015): A California appellate court ruled that a lien claimant could not seek an order vacating a sanction against him nearly half a year after it became final.

Lopez v. Waks, B248734, (02/25/2015): A California appellate court ruled that an injured worker failed to raise a viable claim against his former attorney after his attorney negotiated a reduction in the amount of a subrogation lien against the worker's personal injury settlement and paid the lien.

People v. Santiesteban, G049970, (02/19/2015): The 4th District Court of Appeals upheld a former exterminator's conviction and sentence of probation for workers' compensation fraud.